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We are a family living in Philadelphia and looking to relocate somewhere that is safer, more affordable, with 'healthier communities', and good schools. We like what we've read about Shaker Heights outside of Cleveland.
Coming from Philly, housing has become soooo expensive in the city and suburbs. Schooling in the city is awful, unless you live in the right neighborhood, and the crime is escalating...
Any advice about Cleveland area, and surrounding suburbs, esp. Shaker Heights would be really helpful.
I live in Shaker and I think it is a great city. You mentioned schools is a concern, how old are your child/children? elementary, or high school aged maybe? Shaker is pretty safe but has isolated incidents here and there. The housing cost varies in the city it can be anywhere from about $185k to over a million dollars depending on the area.
The area is pretty "healthy" as I see many people out bike riding, jogging, and walking all year round. The only thing that stops them is if there is 3ft of snow on the ground like it is now. There are a few health food stores one is the Farmers Market and you also have a whole foods store in neighboring University Heights.
The schools are pretty good and the parents in the community are very involved. When I'm going my walks, I see the parents with their kids at soccer practice at Lomond Elementary. There is another elementary called Fernway Elementary and that is a pretty good school as well. The Fernway community is very family oriented and a great place to raise kids, IMO.
On the downside, the taxes in Shaker Heights are pretty high and some homeowners end up having to put their houses up for sale if they are no longer able to afford it. I'm assuming Philly's cost of living might be higher than Cleveland so maybe this won't be a problem for you. I really don't have anything else negative to say about Shaker, maybe its because I live here and I love it! Good luck on your search.
Shaker has a lot going for it. If you will be relocating to the eastern side of the Cleveland area it is definitely a place you should check out. I came to the Cleveland area after living for times in the DC and LA areas so the cost of living and housing in Cleveland is a welcome relief. We can actually afford a lifestyle in Shaker that almost validates all the years I spent in college ;^)
To address your specifics:
safety: Shaker as a whole is safe but keep in mind shaker's western and southern borders are close to some less than safe areas. There's not a fence to keep the bad out and it does cross over. One solution is to live further from these borders to create a safety buffer. Generally, this will mean spending more on your home. Check out the actual neighborhoods to get a feel for what each offers.
Affordability: Like the previous poster mentioned, there is a huge range of prices in Shaker and right now there are some real bargains to be had for buyers thinking about the long term. Keep in mind that Shaker has a point of sale inspection which requires homes to be up to code before a sale is complete. Many of the bargain priced homes on the market may have violations that need to be taken care of. Bank owned properties will push this responsibility to the buyer, check out http://www.shakeronline.com/forms/ for details. Also, make sure to check out what you will be paying for taxes on the "bargain" homes as this will often screw the deal (3.05% on the market value and the market values are stupidly high).
Healthy community: In terms of healthy lifestyles, people in Shaker do seem to exercise more than a lot of places. Of course this might have something to do with the fact that a high % of the residents work in the health care field. On a nice day it seems like everybody is out jogging or walking their dog. There are plenty of stores in the general area that cater to a healthy lifestyle as well. In terms of the overall health of the community, Shaker is the kind of place that has weathered Cleveland's economic woes in the past and will likely continue to do so.
Good schools: this is the thing my wife and I our looking into very carefully right now as we are getting ready to start a family. Thus far we are not totally sold on the Shaker schools but are still collecting information. To be clear, I don't think the schools here are bad at all but I think there are better options nearby. Several of our neighbors send their kids to a local private school but we're not really comfortable with that solution either. Those we have talked to who have kids in the public schools here do seem to like what the system has to offer so we haven't ruled that option out yet.
We are a family living in Philadelphia and looking to relocate somewhere that is safer, more affordable, with 'healthier communities', and good schools. We like what we've read about Shaker Heights outside of Cleveland.
Coming from Philly, housing has become soooo expensive in the city and suburbs. Schooling in the city is awful, unless you live in the right neighborhood, and the crime is escalating...
Any advice about Cleveland area, and surrounding suburbs, esp. Shaker Heights would be really helpful.
Thanks!
What is drawing you to CH? Maybe if you could state that, other posters could give you some more specifics & other areas that meet your needs.
SH is decent though you are in an area that has a huge private school following. It's a hard call on the public schools. Not the worst in any means but not the best.
It is going to depend on where you live in Shaker. With the tanked real estate market, you can get some great deals now.
Do you have a job in line & its location? I ask this for commute reasons.
There are many good areas on the east side. The best right now is Solon though housing can be quite pricey there. It has a very, very good public school system.
As long as you stay away from the bad areas, you will not encounter frequent crime. Petty crime happens in AnyCity,USA & random bad crimes, but overall, you can definitely find an area on the east side of Cleveland that is fairly safe as long as you are smart
Thanks so much for your replies. Everything being relative, we're in Philly now which has a considerably higher cost of living...as well as the highest murder and poverty rates of any major US city. And we can't send our kids to public school.
We're simply looking for a healthy, affordable, diverse, and safe place to raise a family with good schools. It sounds like Shaker may be a good fit. Diversity is important to us, we don't want to raise our kids in a suburban bubble. We have an 11 y/o and a 2 y/o. Are the schools different quality depending on the grade level?
Also is there much religious diversity in Shaker? and the Cleveland area as a whole?
I think there is religious diversity though believe that you are going to find a very strong Jewish presence on the eastside. The westside has a very strong Catholic presence.
A nice thing about the Cleveland area is the very wide range of choice a person can have in where they want to live.
There are many nice suburbs that are not too suburby throughout the area.
Your best bet is to take some time & drive through the areas that interest you prior to moving (if it is possible).
Also recommend looking at some of the areas on the west and south sides.
Shaker Heights is a great community. Close to downtown Cleveland, great shopping nearby, and close to all the great ammenities of the Cleveland Metro Parks. I have family from Philly, and Philly is a great city, but I see what you are saying about the crime. Cleveland has a crime problem just like most major cities, but Philly has one of the worst, maybe even worse than Detroit's.
If Shaker Heights is not for you, Cleveland offers a variety of different suburbs that fit different peoples' needs.
Diversity is important to us, we don't want to raise our kids in a suburban bubble.
Well you just hit on the buzz word in Shaker. When ever my wife or I ask about the public schools here, the parents we talk to always remark about how diverse the schools here are and how important they think that is. Shaker city itself is around 57% white, 36% black, 4% Asian, and 3% 'other' according to some data I've seen (city-data.com's numbers are slightly different). The Shaker high school is 53% black, 40% white, 4% multi-racial, 3% Asian and 1% Hispanic according to greatschools.net. The other public schools in Shaker have demographics pretty similar to the high school. Some busing is used in the elementary schools to keep balance. The Shaker school district includes a small but rather population dense region of bordering Cleveland which at least partially accounts for the shift in demographics between the city and schools. My wife and I are less concerned with diversity of the school system than we are with the absolute quality of the education the schools can deliver which is where we and some of the Shaker parents we speak with part ways.
Quote:
Are the schools different quality depending on the grade level?
The schools get pretty similar scores from the state and various ranking services at all grade levels. Basically, the Shaker system comes out near the middle of the pack overall but the Shaker district does seem to do very well with their gifted students. The amount of parent involvement at the elementary school level probably varies a bit across the neighborhoods.
Quote:
Also is there much religious diversity in Shaker? and the Cleveland area as a whole?
The only numbers I have say 58% of the people in Shaker are religious. Of the population: 35% are Catholic, 10% are Protestant; 5% are another Christian faith, 6% are Jewish, 1.5% affiliate with Islam and the rest practice an 'eastern faith'. The Jewish population here seems to me to be higher than the numbers would indicate but that could just be due to our circle of friends or the fact that some of the surrounding communities have a larger Jewish population. Cleveland, particlularly the east side inner suburbs, has a large Jewish population (I've heard that the Cleveland area is second only to New York in this regard).
I don't know where the religious breakdown referred to above came from but there are various churches in and around Shaker to cater for pretty much everyone: Epispocal (Christ, St. Paul's), Fairmount Presbyterian, St. Dominic's (Catholic), Unity, Unitarian, Church of Christ, Plymouth (popular with families), Fairmount Baptist (fabulous Christmas eve celebrations with great music and live nativity), reform synagogue on Chagrin Blvd. and plenty of other choices nearby.
Shaker has five neighborhood elementary schools that all rate well. Fernway used to be considered #1 but I think that accolade has now fallen to Onaway, at least in terms of pure test scores. Boulevard Elementary has always been very international.
Yes, Shaker High school has two systems: one for the gifted and one for everyone else. Where you children fall in the system will determine whether you use it or not. The best thing is to be "in the know" about who the best teachers are and make sure you get them -- same as in any school.
When it comes to lifestyle and the size and quality of house you can get for your money -- especially now -- Shaker just can't be beat. The housing stock is awesome. To be able to just walk out your front door and take a beautiful walk (or jog or bike ride) is just priceless.
don't know where the religious breakdown referred to above came from
[color=black]Sorry, I should have given a reference there. Those numbers come from Moderator cut: linking to competitors sites is not allowed
I think it's fair to say that accurate numbers are hard to come up with regarding a population's religious practices so obviously that info should be taken with a grain of salt.
I should also say that when I called Shaker's schools middle of the road that I was being a little harsh. My wife and I are primarily comparing the Shaker schools to schools only in other areas we would consider relocating to such as Chagrin, Orange, Mayfield, Solon and Beachwood so we are generally comparing the Shaker schools to some strong competition.
Last edited by Yac; 03-06-2008 at 06:51 AM..
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Shaker Heights is tops!
